R1.6bn of Gupta-linked firms’ assets frozen

Gupta-linked companies McKinsey and Trillian will on Tuesday be handed an order to freeze R1.6 billion worth of assets after South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority was granted the order on Monday.

NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku confirmed the preservative orders freezing the companies’ assets was obtained by the Assets Forfeiture Unit (AFU) in December, brought by the AFU on the basis that the assets were the proceeds of crime. In these types of applications, the preserved assets are placed under the control of a curator and cannot be disposed of pending the court’s final determination on whether they should be confiscated.

The R1.6bn is the same amount Eskom demanded the companies pay back last year. A Treasury instruction stipulated Eskom should have paid McKinsey and Trillian an hourly rate. Instead they were paid a percentage of savings achieved, allowing fees to grow astronomically.

Eskom said McKinsey received two unlawful payments totalling R1.028bn and Trillian four payments totalling R564.6m.

These were raised as suspicious, based on information in the State of Capture report and the Guptaleaks e-mails that pointed to alleged relationships between senior Eskom officials and the Gupta family.

It’s been alleged that McKinsey partnered with Trillian to obtain Eskom consultancy work due to its links to the Guptas and that Trillian was paid despite not doing any work.